The National Communication Officer of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Sammy Gyamfi, has told President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that “the prosecution and 15- to 25-year imprisonment of illegal miners, as provided under Ghana’s Minerals and Mining Act, is a more deterrent and effective way of fighting the galamsey menace than the burning of excavators.”

The advice comes a day after the President backed the burning of excavators in his fight against galamsey.

Speaking at a sod-cutting ceremony for the construction of the Law Village Project in Accra on Wednesday, 26 April 2021, Nana Akufo-Addo asked his critics to go to court for redress if they were unhappy with his approach.

The President said: “I know there are some who believe that the ongoing exercise of ridding our water bodies and forest zones of harmful equipment and machinery is unlawful and, in some cases, harsh”.

“I strongly disagree, and I would advise those who take a contrary view to go to court to vindicate their position if they so wish. That is what the rule of law is all about.”

“The Ghana Law Reports of modern times are littered with cases in which my clients thought it necessary to challenge government action. On the majority of occasions, the courts upheld my contentions, in a few others, they did not.

But Mr Gyamfi, in a Facebook post, disagreed with the President and wants him to stick to the punitive measure provided under the country’s Minerals and Mining Act.